← Exemplars

Exemplar

Confucius

historical · read by 2 of 6 traditions

How each tradition reads them

  • Enneagram

    The Reformer

    Riso & Hudson 1996

    Named by Riso-Hudson; a whole ethical tradition founded on the rectification of names and conduct.

  • Pollack 1980

    The Master whose transmission of ritual decorum became the founding Hierophant of East Asian civilization.

Where they sit on the lenses

Stage

  • Pre-initiation
  • Striving
  • Liminal
  • Integrating
  • Integrated

Affect

  • Gut · Anger
  • Heart · Shame
  • Head · Fear
  • Eros · Desire

Stance

  • Toward
  • Against
  • Away

Cluster coalescence

The archetypal tags above resolve into 3 clusters. Each cluster reads the exemplar in its own vocabulary; where more than one cluster surfaces, the exemplar themself is holding a structural tension.

Confucius is read across divergent stances (Against vs. Toward) and divergent affect centers (Gut · Anger vs. Head · Fear vs. Eros · Desire). The exemplar holds a tension their readers cannot — which is often why they endure.

Also read in this register